Indian Grand Prix 1: Krishan Kumar wins 800m, meets Asiad standard; long-jumper Ancy Sojan excels

Thiruvananthapuram, March 20 (IANS) Haryana's Krishan Kumar stepped up the pace approaching the halfway mark and topped the men's 800m in the Indian Grand Prix 1 at the Laxmibai National College of Physical Education here on Monday.

In clocking 1:47.26, his second-best time over the distance, the Armyman met the Asian Games qualifying standard of 1:49.05 in the event organised by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).

Krishan Kumar, the National Games silver medallist, also owed it to Madhya Pradesh 18-year-old Parvej Khan, who ran a hard first 300m and set the pace for the taller Krishan Kumar to utilise to his advantage.

Parvej, who finished third in race A in 1:51.10, missed out on a podium place as Prakash Balu Gadade won race B in 1:50.56 and claimed the silver medal, the AFI informed in a report on its official website.

The men's 5000m saw three Uttar Pradesh runners come home inside the Asian Games qualifying mark of 14:00.00. Abhishek Pal won in 13:51.14, just 2.15 seconds slower than his personal best, while Gulveer Singh clocked a personal best, improving on the earlier time of 14:02.50 and Mohammed Nur Hasan, usually a steeplechaser, marked his 25-lapper debut with an impressive 13:52.26

On a day on which Hima Das won the 200m quite comfortably in 23.79 seconds, it was long-jumper Ancy Sojan who stole the thunder in the women's events. She produced a series of leaps beyond 6.00m and won with a best effort of 6.49m, just past the 6.45m mark laid down as the Asian Games qualifying standard.

Odisha javelin thrower Kishore Kumar produced only two valid tries on Monday but his effort of 81.05m is his career best, improving on the 78.93m in winning the National Open Throws Competition in Bellary this month. DP Manu tried hard to dislodge him from the top spot and had two throws over 80m but finished second. Both got the Asian Games qualifying mark.

The AFI Indian Grand Prix 2 will be held here at the same venue on March 28.

The results:

Men

100m: 1. Hassan Said (Maldives) 10.67 seconds; 2. Amiya Kumar Mallick (Oidsha) 10.69; 3. Amit Tiwari (Delhi) 10.90.

200m: 1. Hassan Said (Maldives) 21.66 seconds; 2. Maninder Singh (Punjab) 22.29; 3. Jainabaj (Delhi) 22.73.

800m (races A & B): 1. Krishan Kumar (Haryana) 1:47.26; 2. Prakash Balu Gadade (Maharashtra) 1:50.56; 3. Ankesh Chaudhary (Himachal Pradesh) 1:51.00.

5000m: 1. Abhishek Pal (Uttar Pradesh) 13:51.14; 2. Gulveer Singh (Uttar Pradesh) 13:51.88; 3. Mohammed Nur Hasan (Uttar Pradesh) 13:52.26.

400m Hurdles: 1. T Santhosh Kumar (Tamil Nadu) 52.02 seconds; 2. Vijay Singh Malik (Haryana) 52.53; 3. Akhilbabu Akhilnivas Chingoli (Kerala) 54.11.

Long Jump: 1. Nirmal Sabu (Kerala) 7.58; 2. Siddharth Mohan Naik (Karnataka) 7.27; 3. Vinoth Kumar Yuvaraj (Kerala) 7.25.

Triple Jump: 1. SN Mohammed (Tamil Nadu) 15.77m; 2. Pradeep Kumar (Uttar Pradesh) 15.05.

Shot Put: 1. Karanveer Singh (Punjab) 18.90m; 2. Sahib Singh (Delhi) 18.83; 3. Dhanvir Singh (Punjab) 18.10.

Javelin Throw: 1. Kishore Kumar Jena (Odisha) 81.05m; 2. DP Manu (Karnataka) 80.61; 3. Arshdeep Singh (Punjab) 75.67.

Women

100m: 1. AT Daneshwari (Karnataka) 11.76 seconds; 2. Archana Suseendran (Tamil Nadu) 11.82; 3. Nithya Gandhe (Telangana) 11.93.

200m (Races A & B): 1. Hima Das (Assam) 23.79 seconds; 2. Aishwarya Kailash Mishra (Maharashtra) 24.81; 3. VK Vismaya (Kerala) 24.82.

800m: 1. Chanda (Delhi) 2:09.18; 2KM Deeksha (Madhya Pradesh) 2:12.06; 3. Aminath Jaisha Juneez (Maldives) 2:29.33.

5000m: 1. Ankita Dhyani (Uttarakhand) 15:55.15; 2. Sanjivani Baburao Jadhav (Maharashtra) 16:01.76; 3. Seema (Himachal Pradesh) 16:03.64.

400m Hurdles: 1. Delna Philip (Kerala) 1:01.58; 2. P Pavithra (Tamil Nadu) 1:05.79.

High Jump: 1. Rubina Yadav (Haryana) 1.76m; 2. NK Varsha (Tamil Nadu) 1.70.

Long Jump: 1. Ancy Sojan (Kerala) 6.49m; 2. Sandra Babu (Kerala) 5.93; 3. R Punitha (Tamil Nadu) 5.91.

Shot Put: 1. Manpreet Kaur (Haryana) 16.23m; 2. Abha Khatua (Maharashtra) 14.80; 3. M Sharmila (Tamil Nadu) 12.54.